How to Cook Smarter by Cooking Smaller

Some chefs love their tiny kitchens, and not merely for masochistic reasons. Here’s how a smaller space can make for better cooking

By

KAREN STABINER

April 19, 2018 11:04 am ET

WHEN YOU turn out 100 dinners a night from a 170-square-foot kitchen, every inch counts. Chris Ono, chef de cuisine at Esters Wine Shop & Bar in Santa Monica, Calif., keeps his knives on a tray that just fits in the space between the top of a small bar refrigerator and the bar itself.

Mr. Ono came to Esters from Eleven Madison Park in New York, which has a palatial kitchen far larger than many apartments in that city. But he likes his downsized workspace; he considers it not an obstacle but an opportunity. “Most people...